Life, Love and Death
by FanfictionRevolution
Summary: Damon knew after telling Elena he loved her that she'd need time, but it seems that even in the perfect whirlwind romance, there is very little time on the cards. One Shot.


Elena sat at a table in the corner of the room, watching Damon sitting at the bar alone, holding a drink loosely in his hand, swirling the amber liquid in the glass. He hadn't seen her yet, but she knew from the way he sat that he knew she was there. She glanced around the room before getting to her feet, strolling across the room before stopping behind me.

"Drinking alone again, Damon?" She asked, before sitting on the stool to his right, closer to the door.

"Aren't I always?" came his short reply.

It was short and sweet, like most things he said, and those three words brought an uncomfortable pain to her chest. _He's alone_ she thought to herself. It had been weeks since her had professed his love for her, and since he had stopping bringing girls back to the house in an attempt to show her his dedication, yet she was still with him. Sure, they were in seperate beds, and the most intimate thing they shared was a hostile 'goodbye' everytime one of the left the house, but they were still together and both still loved eachother in their own way.

"I'm sorry I can't be what you want, Damon," she whispered back to him, hanging her head slightly, staring at the bar. "I'm trying to make sense of it all but I can't." She got to her feet walking quickly out of The Grill, not wanting to have this conversation in a public place.

"You love me Elena, I know you do! You just need to admit it to yourself and we can sort this out!" He called to her, from the door of The Grill, jogging up to her and turning her to face him, leaving his hand on her arm, slowly trailing it up and down. "You just need to know what you feel."

The evening air blew cold against her skin raising goosebumps, yet his hand was leaving an almost searing heat wherever he put it. She lifted her head slightly to look him in the eye, her hair catching the orange light from the nearby street lamp.

"I know what I feel Damon..." she whispered, her breath condensing in the air as it left her mouth. "I love Stefan and I'll always hold him dear in my heart, yet your face haunts my dreams." She put her palm flat against his cheek, her fingers tracing his collar bone. "Your eyes feel like they are looking into my soul... but I can't do this. Not now." She eneded, dropping her hand to her side and stepping out of his reach.

"Elena," he mumbled, stepping forward, pausing in shock when she stepped back from him, keeping the distance between them. "You're not scared of me, or what I can do, or even who I am! I'm a _monster_! I took your birth mother's life away, I stripped her of her soul and turned her into a vampire and you're not scared of me, so don't you _dare_ step away from me!" His voice grew a sharp edge as he stepped forward once more, watching again as she stepped back out of reach. "You are scared of how I make you feel. You feel an undeniable lust to be close to me. You feel everything you want to feel around Stefan around me, and it scares you, but that's ok! We can sort this out!" He was pleading now, his eyes begging for her to understand.

A shadow stepped into Elena's view behind Damon. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen," a familiar voice crooned. "The Older Salvatore is once again begging for the love his brother holds, history seems to like repeating itself and it's always the same players! Or close enough anyway..." A giggle slashed at the air as the shadow stepped into the light. "It's always you, and Stefan, and me," Katherine continued walking towards the pair. "Because honey, she is me, just the younger, more fragile version. Is that what you like? The thought that you could snap her in an instant? Or the thought that you could be her fierce protector and save her from all the bad things in the world?" Sarcasm leeked into Katherine's tone and a smirk appeared on her face. "It's a shame you'll always slip up," she whispered into Damon's ear before disappearing out of Elena's view and behind her back, placing a hand on Elena's now rigid back.

"Katherine!" Damon shouted the warning, the sound echoing down the street.

"Oh hush now, it'll all be over soon," she mumbled, bringing her hand up Elena's back and resting it against her neck, slowly turning her towards her ancestor.

"Please don't do this," Elena whispered, her voice cracking on the words, a tear rolling down her face. "Please..."

"Don't beg, it's not attractive," Katherine whispered before swiftly snapping Elena's neck to the side. "I don't share my toys."

A crack was heard in front of her, breaking the eerie silence that had settled for just a few seconds as Damon rushed forward with a jagged branch, tears rolling freely down his face. "You bitch," he growled before lunging forward, stabbing Katherine at the same time, attaching her to the crude weapon he was wielding. "Of all the people, why her?" He screamed into her face, his eyebrows furrowing, his lip pressed into a hard line. "You told me you didn't love me! I waited for you for over a century and you told me you didn't want me, and when I finally find someone I love, who loves me back in exactly the same manner you have to _ruin_ it!" He ripped the branch from her abdomin before thrusting it back into her. "She had done nothing to you and you killed her!"

Katherine's attempts of pushing Damon off grew feeble as Damon's rage took over, making his practically impossible to even the strongest of creatures. "She had taken you from me, you were mine to begin with, she had taken my life! She was playing with the two of you in exactly the same way I had and you stood there and took it! You were **mine**!" She gasped for breath as her eyes began to sink in, the black veins protruding across her face and her face turned an ashy white.

Damon ripped the branch out one more before piercing her one last time. "I was never yours," he whispered as she fell limp in his arms before dropping her to the ground and running towards his falled love.

"Elena..." he whispered, his once noiseless tears breaking into sobs as he leant over her. He took hold of her chin, lifting it upwards to look into her unseeing eyes. Her face was pale, her eyes blank and dead, her whole body limp. He dropped into a sitting position, lifting her head onto his lap, pushing the hair out of her face. "_I love you,_" he whispered between his broken sobs, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against hers.

Her eyelids fluttered open at the sound of those three words. The three words he'd been telling her for weeks, hoping she'd return the favour. She moved her lips soundlessly, glancing down at the ring she had slipped onto her finger from her pocket seconds before Katherine had snapped her neck. The ring had been a secret, a present that was left to her in the will John had left behind after his death. He'd had it specially made by someone away from Mystic Falls so noone could trace it back to her, so she'd be safe. She gentlely licked her lips before whispering a broken '_I love you too_' back to him, watching as his eyes flew open and tears of joy ran down his face, before lifting her lips up to his to do the one thing she knew would feel right.

**Ok, so this was a spur of the moment decision! I've not read over it as I'm tired, so if there are any mistakes I apologise! But thank you for reading and feel free to review or inbox me!**


End file.
